The Magnificent Seven (1998–2000) User Reviews (36)

My favorite version yet . . .

[keys-83212 · 8/10 · 13 April 2022]

I did not expect to like this series when I first started. Westerns that were made after 1970's dont have the same appeal. I think it is the starring role of Michael Beihn as Chris Larabie in this adaption that truly takes the cake. I do not much prefer the original magnificent seven movies with Yul Brener as I find he did not make a convincing western gunfighter character. Where as Michael Beihn became a hero and a black figure of revenge, coolness, kindness, and uprightness in the best way possible. I cannot say I enjoyed all the episodes, but the ones I did I have rewatched several times.

My personal favorites are: wagon train part 2, Achilles, Lady Killers, and witness.

Ended Too Soon

[doug2go · 8/10 · 19 March 2019]

I have been catching up on series I missed on Amazon Prime - some ended to late and some ended too soon - Like the Magnificent Seven with Michael Biehn and Laurie Holden among others. Because these two lead actors , with great chemistry never developed into a romance was a missed opportunity for the show to continue passed 2 seasons . Also continuing to project Chris as a grieving widower for 2 straight seasons was way over the top and took away from the entertainment value of the show. It is Obvious to me that the under achieving show runners for this show have been flipping hamburgers at a local fast food restaurant for the last 15 years where they belong. I could have made my short title - "how to ruin a good show" with missed opportunities and short sightedness. A successful series of up to 5 seasons was right in front of them and they blew it.

Magnificent indeed!

[mizhelenuk · 25 December 2001]

As a dyed-in-the-wool western fan for most of my life, I was a little dubious about the series, but when it finally aired in the UK I loved it!

Some of the direction in the Pilot was a little poor and haphazard, but I loved the chemistry between the seven actors, all of whom looked as though they were having a whale of a time.

The subject matter has been varied, from prostitution to slavery, serial murder to religious intolerance, a welcome change from the shoot-em-up mindless tosh we have been offered previously. Coupled with well-written, witty scripts and a fabulous cast, it has been a revelation.

Each of the seven is well-delineated, their characters complimenting each other; from the haunted leader to the smiling ladies'-man, the earnest healer to the acquistive gambler, the quiet, deadly sharpshooter to the brash greenhorn, and, of course, the great Ron Perlman as the penance-ridden ex-preacher, it has been a true delight.

Very saddening that it only lasted two seasons - the Powers-That-Be should be ashamed of themselves.

Best western TV series.... EVER !!!!!

[biscotte61 · 10/10 · 23 August 2010]

Like many of the frequent commentators here, I too have seen thousands and thousands of movies and countless TV series. First of all I liked the original movie and secondly I hate remakes especially when they turn it into a TV series !

But THIS series is just amazing. Very well casted, the scripts are strong and solid, the photography is excellent, the action is good and these people can act.

It has nothing to do with the movie at all, except for the title and a slight hint to a character or two. There never was and never will be another western series which can top this one !

And yes, "Centennial" was outstanding, so was "How the west won", "Lonesome Dove" and "Streets of Laredo". However in my personal opinion I can easily say that this series gave me the most pleasure. Something to look forward to every week and boy did I do that !!!

WHY OH WHY.... only two series were made ?! We should DEMAND a third one !!! Why was there no third season... The final episode reveals something about the Chris character but when you hear his last words you just KNOW this has to be followed up by a third series or at least a final TV movie.

Even if you are not fond of western series, this one is truly likable and very enjoyable. I usually don't rate highly. But for this series I give it full marks not 10 but 11 out of 10 !!!

This is a definite MUST SEE !!!

Great Series Gone Too Soon

[Plk7777 · 10/10 · 15 May 2012]

I started watching a few episodes into first season. I was addicted immediately. The excellent cast and superb production level made me a devoted fan.

The chemistry of the diverse characters, and the actors, was off the charts great. Character development was outstanding, especially considering the large ensemble cast. The overwhelming charisma of the two leads of Vin Tanner (sharpshooter with a price on his head) and Chris Larabee (menacing gunslinger) was very entertaining. It doesn't hurt that they are both very appealing. They put the buddy chemistry to the highest level. Great backups are Ezra Standish and Buck Wilmington. The whole cast is fantastic.

Sometimes the shows got a little diluted by trying to slice each episode so each character had equal time. A greater concentration on the two leads might have saved the series. Or a consistent time slot. I wore my VHS tapes out and immediately got season one and two DVDs . I watch and enjoy them regularly. Pure entertainment.

I still miss Vin, a fantastic Eric Close, and Chris, the enigmatic Michael Biehn. Have not seen such great chemistry between two characters before or since.

Overall, if you like westerns, this will be a perfect watch. If you like great characters and high production, you will like this series. Trust me, you'll like it.

Soon I shall own this

[princess919 · 10/10 · 7 June 2006]

I am not a huge fan of many American TV series but this one was so good I am completely hooked.

I have been a fan of westerns forever, my dad and I used to sit up at midnight watching them together and Magnificent seven was our favourite. Trust me this series is just as good as the originals though a little more tongue in cheek.

I love the way the actors really seem to be enjoying what they are doing and they all fit into their characters so well.The script is written so well and the conversation when the seven are sitting together is hilarious, as is JD's romance with Casey.

I can't wait to receive my DVD and I am so glad it's finally come out the tapes I made of it have run a little ragged.

Absolutely one of the BEST shows ever!!!

[klb4556 · 10/10 · 12 February 2017]

This will forever go down as one of my favorite shows ever, and I am only regretful that it got cancelled so early.

The actors are brilliant!! Every single one has something amazing they bring to the table. The show is just bursting with talent.

It has everything you would want, the good ole action of the old west,justice done, a hint of romance, and a lot of funny scenarios and things that make you laugh out loud.

This is one of those that makes my heart just burst with pride, over the heroism that people once showed to protect others, and it'll have you doing the same. Whether you are fist-punching the air when the theme song comes on or waking up all your neighbors in triumph once they ride in to save the day, you will NOT go wrong.

I am so glad I own these on DVD, I always love having a marathon, no matter how many times I have already. Even got my husband into it and he is a tough critic, but loves it and insists we watch.

It's a classic!!It's never too late to start watching!

Thoughts on The Magnificent Seven

[ranger-12 · 10/10 · 22 January 1999]

I'm so happy that The Magnificent Seven is back on TV to continue their series. The Western genre is a tried and true form of entertainment which has always had appeal. These characters make it even more appealing with their superb acting talents, and I look forward to each new episode. I just wish it would be more than a replacement series. It has action, humor, great story lines and a brilliant cast. It deserves to be right up there with the classics we've seen through the years, Gunsmoke etc. Whoever did the casting for this wonderful series, did an excellent job, because the guys are just perfect in their roles.

Saturated with Political Correctness!

[andell · 1/10 · 19 April 2011]

I recently purchased the two seasons of "The Magnificent Seven" on DVD for $10 each...and I'm afraid to say, I feel ripped off.

The show centres around what the old movie centred around back a couple of decades before: a group of colourful characters use their unique skills to work helping the disenfranchised.

Well, that's ultimately what the show is supposed to be about...but what it amounts to more or less is a group of mostly white men helping groups of mostly minority characters kill mostly white men who are doing bad things. Of course, it helps that apparently this is going on during the days of the Confederacy, and so apparently by proxy, everyone who was part of the Confederacy was evil, ruthless and murderous.

I think my biggest complaint is that, for all the morality implied in this show, it really fails to live up to it's own moral code. In one episode, for instance, a black man is going to be strung up by a bunch of drunkards for failing to save the life of their boss.

Good reason for saving him...life is precious. However the guys that do save him end up killing seven or eight men in the process, and get involved in a shoot out in the middle of a graveyard. I mean, come on! Part of the fun of the old Westerns...the true Westerns, is that a man was a man, regardless of if he had his gun or not.

Even the spaghetti Westerns understood this...so what were they thinking with this rubbish, boring, redundant program? Michael Biehn in particular is annoying...he's so obviously doing his best Clint Eastwood impression, but he has neither the on screen presence, nor the tough reputation to make him believable in the "Man With No Name" theme they try to cast him in.

Episode after episode, the gang rely on absurd, cliché plans that any 4th grader could come up with to get the drop on the bad guys...and of course they never seem to take prisoners...oh no: instead, they just kill them all.

My advice: despite some interesting cast choices, this is one major flop of a TV show, and I'd never recommend it. I can only assume that it's getting rated highly from some people who enjoyed the original movie that it ripped the concept off of.

An excellent - yet under-appreciated- ensemble show.

[wnnepooh · 3 August 2004]

This was an amazingly well crafted show, that was over too soon! In a market that was glutted with cookie-cutter dramas and sit-coms, Magnificent Seven was a welcome change. Sylistically, it didn't look like anything else on TV, and it certainly didn't have the same story lines as anything else on any other network. Unfortunately, westerns on TV were not destined to make a comeback that season.

I'm a big fan of the original with Brynner and McQueen, and believe me -Biehn and Close were well able to fill those remarkable shoes! Eric Close even LOOKS like Steve McQueen! And believe me - the chemistry of the seven actors is something I've not seen on TV since - and likely will not see again. There was a friendship between all seven main actors, which made their characters easier to believe and twice as engaging to watch.

This show had action, drama, comedy, brotherhood, and just a pinch of romance. It was clean enough, yet entertaining enough for younger kids to watch, and interesting enough to keep adults coming back each week. I think it's still viewable on the Hallmark channel, but not everyone has that channel available. What I wouldn't give for DVD's...

Too many gorgeous guys for words!

[wingtale7 · 10/10 · 28 August 2006]

"The Magnificent Seven" television series started with this episode/movie "Ghosts of the Confederacy". They created a fictional story that will live on in the memories of western fans forever.

See Eric Close in the role that put him on the map. He is absolutely delectable as Vin Tanner; the ex-bounty hunter, gravel-voiced tracker. Michael Biehn is superb as the notorious gunslinger Chris Larabee. Anthony Starke was perfectly made for the delightfully entertaining Ezra Standish; gambler and conman. Ron Perlman is cast as the ex-preacher Josiah Sanchez and Rick Worthy plays the part of the ex-slave Nathan Jackson. Both bring drama and balance to the seven; with age, wisdom and a belief in doing what's right. The fun and frolicking Buck Wilmington could not have played by anyone but Dale Midkiff and he is absolutely delightful in this role. As the womanizing scoundrel he adds laughter and an odd sort of compassion to the group. Lastly, Andrew Kavovit plays J.D. Dunne, the final member of the seven, a eastern greenhorn. Young Mr. Dunne wants to earn the respect of the others, especially that of the gunslinger; Mr. Larabee. Can he?

Enjoy the camaraderie and anticipate the trouble that can result when you take seven completely different characters and have them try to work together.

A wonderful tale! I loved it!

Magnificent Seven

[chestererin2004 · 10/10 · 19 January 2007]

I loved this show. When it came out on CBS my grandmother and I watched it every week. It was our favorite. Unfortunately, when it went off the air, we had no other way of watching it. We couldn't afford cable or satellite. When I found out that Season One had come out on DVD, I bought it immediately and have watched each episode at least a dozen times. I truly wish that MGM would put Season 2 on the market as soon as possible. I have become a Magnificent Seven Junkie. I still do not have cable or satellite and many nights there aren't any decent shows on the 2 channels available to me and when this happens into the DVD player goes the Magnificent Seven and I will watch it until bedtime. Thank you for such a wonderful show.

Truly Magnificent!

[teamcaryl · 10/10 · 23 October 2021]

An utter sin this series was so short lived :(

They don't make Westerns like this anymore. Stellar cast. Stellar writing. Stellar production team, who knew how to captivate audiences with downhome action.

I never saw the original film. But I don't have to. This series stands on its own. The chemistry and bonding between the cast made us forget it was a TV series.

Their characters perfectly compliment each other, from the stoic haunted leader to the shining grinning ladies man, to the astute gunner wannabe. And the varied topic matters blend well, from prostitution to slavery, to gold mining and murder, to religious indifferences.

Wow!

[yasseng · 10/10 · 21 August 2005]

I watched a couple of the series early hours in the morning. They were fantastic, they contain suspense, the first one i watched a woman was killed with a knife and they were trying to find the person who did it. The person who did it put Josiah Sanchez in jail! I'd recommend this to anyone who enjoys action and suspense! My favourite characters in it are JD and Josiah. Josiahs just cool, hes a priest with a hot temper, JD's the youngest guy of the seven and very brave, in one of the episodes he shoots a woman in a gun fight and she dies, he decides to leave because i thinks hes not good enough in the 7 but on the way out the chariot he is taking is ambushed by criminals, the drivers are shot and he takes the chariot back to the town safely :).

Just terrible, embarrassing, and full of left-wing Hollywood cliches

[morrisonhimself · 2/10 · 12 January 2019]

Occasional good acting, sometimes, and occasional re-use of Elmer Bernstein's iconic score just cannot save this from the moronic script.

The alleged lead, "Chris," tries too hard to emulate Clint Eastwood -- same facial grimaces and twitches -- from those equally iconic Italian Westerns.

"Vin" just walks through his part, maybe like a character from a Marvel comics movie -- lots of swagger but too cliched to be believable.

Apparently a lot of money was spent, as witness the sheer numbers of people involved, but that money could have been better spent on a better script from a better writer.

Perhaps use of another title would not have led us to expect anything -- after all, it was for TV.

But in my experience, it is some of the silliest, most cliched, cardboard characterizations by any writer I've seen in decades. Did I say "terrible" yet?

One more warning: This awful movie is disguised at YouTube as the 2016 version. So be warned if you try to see it there. Why YouTube allows such dishonesty is beyond me.

This is a great new TV series

[Kali-6 · 22 January 1999]

I have been hooked on this show since the pilot first aired. I was a fan of the original movie and love Westerns, so I had to check it out. I also was a fan of Michael Biehn, especially from science fiction, which didn't hurt.

What a treat! The actors are both handsome and skilled, the sets and plot lines are authentic, and there is a nice balance of drama and humor. There is plenty of room for plot development and great interplay between a solid ensemble cast. I especially appreciate the inclusion of blacks, Latinos, and realistic portrayals of Native Americans -- the West was widely populated with all types of people, and that comes through clearly here. The guest stars have also been fantastic, and some may become regular guests.

I've been taping and re-watching each episode several times -- it's that good. If you haven't watched it yet, check it out -- you won't be sorry!

Kali

Too much Hollywood political correctness for my taste.

[jmit001 · 2/10 · 5 June 2007]

Normally I love finding old (and some not-so-old) westerns I haven't seen, to be the entertainment for the evening. It's such a great way to sit back, relax and escape the politics and world problems for a few hours. But this was not to be the case with this version of The Magnificent Seven. The casting and storyline of this series closely follow the Hollywood formula for politically correct entertainment; good old get-your-mind-right, revisionist history, where the 'bad guys' must all be white, male, Confederate (in this case), and preferably Christian (if it can somehow be worked into the script). It's sad, really. The best movies out there, are now and have always been about simply telling a good story up on the big screen - not about forwarding someone's political ideology.

Wonderful film and TV series

[laurat-2 · 23 June 2004]

It was a wonderful film and TV series with great chemistry between the cast and terrific character development. I enjoyed the original movie, but this one far surpasses it in the casting, you couldn't have found a better ensemble that worked so well together. Even the bit characters were well done. It was nice also to have some connection besides the original music when they put Robert Vaughn in as Judge Travis. In the original movie a viewer couldn't really connect with the characters as well as you could with the remake in 1998. The interaction between the men was much better than the original. Also this cast would work well with the same characters even if they were moved to a different time and occupation (ie: maybe an ATF team or military team) simply because of the chemistry. It should have lasted longer.

A superb show has been given another chance!

[gypsyquick · 24 March 2000]

Yes, it is a western and sometimes violent by some standards, but there is so much more. How many shows are there that can be set over a hundred years ago and still address problems faced today?

The cast includes seven very different actors (much like the characters they portray) who come together in perfect harmony. The stories are well-written and directed. There is the perfect blend of action, suspense, and a little humor for good measure.

I jumped for joy when I found out that "The Magnificent Seven", formerly of CBS, was picked up by TNN. It now airs Wednesdays at 10pm eastern. It is the best show to come around in a long time and deserves the chance. Even if you don't like westerns, there's something here for you.

A Tribute to a Classic

[Gislef · 23 December 1998]

The Magnificent Seven, the original movie, is one of my favorites, and the TV series does justice to it. Although it's been somewhat cleaned up for TV, and the characters live every week, it's still a classic, serious TV western worthy of mention with other greats like Maverick, Have Gun, and Gunsmoke.

What a great western tv series.

[tweetymac5 · 8 September 2002]

There havent been to many western tv series lately. Two of the best that were on in recent years was The Magnificant Seven and The Young Riders. Give me a good sci-fi or action movie or series anyday. Although The Magnificant Seven and The Young Riders were westerns they had alot of action in them and the casts were great. Casting Micheal Biehn as the Seven's leader was a great choice. He works well in a western setting; as he did in Tombstone. It is a shame there were only 23 episodes made. I hope they can make some tv movies about The Magnificant Seven with all of the same cast. I also hope they will air the reruns again of this great show.

The most MAGNIFICENT show ever!

[jwalls-2 · 30 March 2000]

I have been an avid fan of this unbelievably wonderful series since it's debut in January of 1998. The actors are beyond compare and do a superb job. This is a western, but also so much more-- comedy, drama and adventure--rolled into one amazing show. It was prematurely pulled from the air, twice, but that has not deterred its loyal fans. I can not say enough about it. I love it sooo much!! I am sure you will, too! Buy it...watch it.

Wink to the Posse, Darlin's and Regulaters......

"LET THE SEVEN RIDE"

Dacquerie

Great Television

[8ntnomo · 4 January 2003]

It is Saturday Jan.4,2003. The Hallmark Channel has picked up the syndication of The Magnificent Seven TV show. I just finished watching the 2 hour pilot show. I still love the show. We watched the show every week when it first aired. We were saddened when it went off the air. Thank you Hallmark channel for running it in syndication. I now can enjoy a wonderfully done, televison remake of a classic movie.

GREAT SHOW, GREAT ACTORS, GREAT HISTORIES!!!

[zanadc · 27 July 2001]

The Magnificent Seven is one of the best series already shown in the TV. In spite of a minority not to like of the show, happily for us a minority, the Internet is full of sites about the series, proving that it´s really an excellent show. With great actors and great histories. I hope that this show returns some day.

My thoughts on the television show, "The Magnificent Seven"

[ESB · 22 November 1998]

This is an awesome television show. Has a great deal of action and each and every show is like a rollercoaster from beginning to end. I have seen every episode (9 in all so far) that has aired and I never get tired of watching this great western.

I am eagerly awaiting new episodes, because none of the new shows for the fall season have piqued my interest as much as "The Magnificent Seven" when it premiered last January.

If you like westerns, action, and handsome men and woman, this is the show for you. I highly recommend it!

Thank you, A Westerns Fan!